Ethics self-assessment in Horizon Europe is a mandatory process where applicants identify and address any ethical issues related to their research proposal. It ensures that the proposed work complies with EU ethical standards and regulations. If you are applying for funding under the Horizon Europe programme, Section 4 of the application template—Ethics and Security—includes the Ethics Issues Table. Completing this table will help you identify potential ethical concerns related to your project proposal.

If your proposal involves any of the issues listed in the Ethics Issues Table, you are required to complete an ethics self-assessment. This should include:

• A clear description of each identified issue (e.g.the use of artificial intelligence, human subjects, animal experiments);

• Your proposed approach to ensure ethical compliance; and

• Any supporting documentation (e.g., existing authorisations or permissions, including their expiry dates).

If these documents are not yet available, please indicate when you expect to obtain them. Providing this information will help facilitate the ethics review process and may accelerate the granting procedure if your proposal is shortlisted for funding.

The ethics self-assessment will become part of your Grant Agreement (Annex 1, as part of the action description, ethics requirements, etc.) and may result in binding obligations. These obligations can later be subject to verification through ethics checks, reviews, or audits. Therefore, it is important to carefully and critically examine your proposed work. While some ethics issues may be obvious, others are easily overlooked.

To assist applicants and beneficiaries in ensuring ethical compliance, the European Commission has published a detailed guidance document titled How to Complete Your Ethics Self-Assessment, which you may find very useful.

If you need support with completing the Ethics Issues Table or the self-assessment, feel free to contact us. My Ethics Advisor team is here to help.